Porter confident prostitution bill will pass

A prostitution bill being introduced to State Parliament today bans brothels in suburban areas and imposes hefty penalties on illegal operators.

The Attorney General Christian Porter is confident the laws will pass, despite opposition from some Liberal MPs.

Several changes have been made following community consultation on the draft legislation, including establishing an exit program to help women wanting to leave the sex industry.

The need for individual prostitutes to be registered has also been removed, if they are working for a licensed operator.

Liberal MPs are being given a conscience vote on the issue and it is understood several will vote against it but Mr Porter says he is confident the legislation will pass.

"The reason I'm confident it will pass is because people who stand in the way of the legislation passing are going to have to go back into their electorates and explain to the people living in their electorates why it is that they voted against a bill that could shut a brothel down in a suburban street," he said.

However, Liberal backbencher Peter Abetz has confirmed he will not be supporting the laws.

Mr Abetz says that while he agrees with parts of the legislation, he's morally bound to vote against it.

"The difficulty that I have with the legislation is that it, in a sense legitimises prostitution, it gives it state sanction," he said.

"And that's something that philosophically I really struggle with."

The Independent Member for Kalgoorlie John Bowler says he will support the laws but only if the town's infamous Hay Street brothels are exempt from the residential ban.

"They are a tourist attraction. We've got two of the three remaining brothels that have tours. And they provide employment and I suppose something a little bit different for the tourists."

The Opposition leader Eric Ripper says the requirement for some sex workers to be registered means Labor will not be supporting the legislation.

"There'll always be that record of their work in the sex industry to haunt them whatever they might do later in life," he said.

"So people won't register, it will go underground with all the potential for corruption, extortion and blackmail that that implies."